


the question

by 10vesick



Series: love (it's merely a madness) [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, everyone is either just mentioned or has like one line, johnjae are getting married and johnny needs to ask ten to be his bestman, johnny doesn't know ten has feelings for him lmao, mbfw AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 08:46:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18517990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/10vesick/pseuds/10vesick
Summary: He tells Ten there’s something he’d been meaning to tell him, and the other sounds almost nervous when he replies. Johnny reassures him it’s nothing bad, and his fingers betray him by typing a set of sentences so cheesy he can feel Ten frowning through the screen.-or, where johnny needs to ask his best friend ten an important question.





	the question

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first of a series of snippets that complement [my current social media AU](https://twitter.com/xuxirolled/status/1117937984714702855) so it's recommended you read that in order for these to make sense ;v;

 

 

 _December 31st, 2018_  
_8:55 AM_  
_Chicago, Illinois_

 

Johnny rereads the message he just finished typing.

He reads it, over and over again, in order to make sure there are no typos, that it’s understandable and, most importantly, that it includes everything he wants to say.

He deletes a certain part near the end and writes it again, before the new idea threatens to vanish from his mind. As he does this, he thinks of Ten, his best friend, his soulmate. He thinks of all the memories they share together, and all the new ones Johnny has made on his own, ones he hasn’t told the other. He thinks of one, specifically, but decides right now is not the time.

Although it’s almost been a month…

“Who are you fighting with?” Jaehyun’s teasing voice snaps him out of his trance, entering the dining room with lazy steps. When Johnny looks up at him with a questioning look, the younger adds. “You’re frowning.”

Johnny’s eyes widen in surprise, immediately feeling his forehead relax. He hadn’t realized he’d been furrowing his brows, deciding whether or not to type the thing he’s been holding secret for more than a few weeks.

“I’m just writing a New Year’s message,” he explains, and calmly receives a quick peck on the lips like every other morning.

Jaehyun moves to stand behind Johnny, who’s seated at the table. He places his hands over the other’s shoulders, soft, delicate. Just like him. “For Ten?” he asks, eyes scanning the message on Johnny’s phone.

The older nods, sighing. “It’s almost midnight over there,“ he says, going through the message one last time.

From above, he can hear Jaehyun’s hum. “Are you finally going to tell him?”

It takes Johnny a minute to answer. “… I still don’t know how to,” he then confesses, hand unconsciously reaching up to take Jaehyun’s. His fingertips brush against the cold silvery halo around his fiancé’s finger.

“He’s your best friend, baby,” Jaehyun reassures, taking Johnny’s hand into his and giving it a slight squeeze. “What do you think he’s going to do, say no?”

“No, it’s not that,” the older shakes his head, chewing at his bottom lip. “I just… I can’t just text him something this big out of the blue, you know? I think we should catch up a little more before I finally tell him.”

Jaehyun sighs. He knows this is something that has been bothering Johnny for a while now— that the whole engagement thing was so sudden, so unplanned, he hadn’t even gotten the time to tell his best friend. Ten’s someone extremely important for Johnny, and Jaehyun knows. Which is why he understands his fiancé’s need to both tell him quickly, but also not knowing how to.

“Take your time, John,” he ends up saying, leaning down to press a kiss on top of Johnny’s head. “Just make sure you do it before the wedding.”

Johnny laughs a little, but he knows the other’s right. He stares for a few more seconds to the words on his phone screen, and decides that the message is finally ready.

It’s 9:07 AM when he finally hits send.

 

* * *

 

 _February 9th, 2019_  
_5:01 PM_

 

Johnny slaps his brother’s hand. “Nu-uh. You’ve had enough for today.”

Mark groans in front to him. “Please. I just want one more slice.”

“You’ll get sick to your stomach, Mark,” warns the older, taking the paper plate away from his brother’s hands as this one whines.

Next to him, Jaehyun rolls his eyes. “Let him eat more cake,” he nudges his fiancé affectionately. “He’s young, I’m sure his stomach can take it.”

“It definitely can. Besides,” Mark points his finger towards the couch, where Donghyuck is seated. “You let him have two slices.”

“Yes but, unlike you, Hyuckie actually ate a proper meal today, and not just reheated noodles,” Johnny poked his little brother’s forehead teasingly. “You can have more cake later, after dinner.”

Mark rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t complain any further. He walks back to the couch and flops down next to Donghyuck, and Johnny knows that, when they think he isn’t looking, the younger will sneak a bite of his own cake into his boyfriend’s mouth. But it’s okay. He lets them be.

At the head of the table where the eldest are seating, Yuta chews the tips of his fork, smiling. “You’re such a dad,” he teases. “Mark’s already 20 and you still treat him like a baby.”

“Because he is a baby,” Taeyong says before Johnny can, and the latter gives him a thankful look. “Johnny’s just being a good brother.”

“Yuta’s kinda right, though” Jaehyun chimes in, and Yuta smiles at his new accomplice. “I’m surprised he hasn’t rebelled against you.”

Johnny huffs. “Oh, you have no idea. You should have seen him when he turned 15. I don’t know how I survived that.”

Both Yuta and Taeyong break into small laughter, reminiscing that time, the image of Johnny panicking every two seconds too fresh on their minds. But just as Jaehyun’s about to ask about it, there’s a ringing sound around the house, and Johnny stands from his seat to open the door.

“John Seo?” the delivery man at his entry asks.

Johnny nods, his eyes falling to his feet. There’s three big cardboard boxes laying at his doorstep, and a specific set of words appear in the back of his head.

_A gift from your favorite dancer._

“Can you sign here, please?” requests the man, handing him small device with a little pen attached.

Johnny nods again, but a question leaves his lips. “Are you sure all of these are for me?”

The man says yes, and Johnny gets an extra confirmation as he reads his own name on the device’s screen, followed by _packages: 3_. He signs a little reluctantly and, once the man is gone, he stares at the three boxes laying at his feet.

Johnny pulls out his phone and texts the one person he knows sent this. Ten replies in short answers and cowboy emojis and encourages him to open the presents. Johnny gives in, and he bends down to pick up the packages which, to his surprise, are quite lightweight, so he can easily bring them inside the house on his own.

“What’s that?” Hyuck immediately asks as Johnny sets the boxes over his little coffee table.

The rest of his friends walk into the living room, gathering around the couches and eyeing at the packages. “Birthday presents,” Johnny answers, a little embarrassed. “From Ten.”

He hears an interested _ooooh_ coming from Jaehyun’s lips. Next to him, Johnny can see Taeyong visibly tense up, arms coming up to cross over his chest. Even Yuta gives him a concerned look, but they know better than to ask.

“Well, are you opening them or not?” Mark urges from the couch. There’s a bit of frosting on his bottom lip that Hyuck is quick to wipe off, but Johnny definitely sees.

Smiling to himself, Johnny tears off the tape from the first box, heart racing at the thought of what could be inside. Once the box is open, he digs his hands inside and is surprised when his fingers sink in extremely soft material.

“Oh my!” Jaehyun exclaims as soon as Johnny pulls out the stuffed bear from the box. It’s brown, and almost a meter long, and Johnny loves it the second he lays eyes on it. “That is _so_ cute!”

From the second box, Johnny pulls out a similar stuffed bear, but this one’s white. And from the third box, emerges a slightly smaller, but still big, shiba plushie. They’re everything he loves and everything he could’ve asked for, so his heart is filled with joy and appreciation for his best friend, who knows him like no one does.

His phone buzzes with a text from Ten, asking if he’d opened the gifts yet.

And Johnny can’t even begin to form a coherent sentence before he’s already replying.

 

* * *

 

 _February 15th, 2019_  
_12:58 AM_

 

Johnny doesn’t want to admit it, but he’s already tired.

He grimaces when he realizes he doesn’t have as much energy as before, when he used to stay up until 4AM on his college days, partying next to Ten, Taeyong and Yuta.

Now, it’s just about to be 1AM and he’s already wishing he was on his bed, tucked in nicely and drinking a nice cup of coffee. Instead, there’s a drink on his hand with alcohol he’s not familiar with, and he can _feel_ the loud beating of the music under his feet.

Jaehyun is somewhere on the dancefloor, dancing excitedly with his friend Jungwoo, both so heavily intoxicated Johnny is actually worried over them. At least he has the reassurance Jungwoo’s boyfriend, Doyoung, is not drinking tonight, and he trusts him enough to handle things if they get out of hand.

Johnny pulls out his phone to look at the hour, praying that, for some reason, the clock has advanced more than a few seconds since the last time he checked.

By sheer luck, a notification pops on his screen before he can put the phone away, a message from Ten calling his name.

They talk for a few minutes, with Ten teasing Johnny for his age and Johnny reminding him he’s not too far from being 28 as well. It’s nice, to have someone to talk to, to keep him awake. Taeyong is too busy handling the DJ-ing for tonight, and Yuta somehow fell asleep over a set of chairs a few minutes ago (whether it had been from tiredness or drunkenness, Johnny didn’t know). Mark and Hyuck are near the entrance, talking over the music with their college friends, young voices cheerfully laughing louder than the beat.

Ten keeps Johnny awake with whatever he comes up with. A joke, a question, a talk about his day. Whatever he says is enough for Johnny to pay his utter attention and forget about his sleepy state.

Except, he’s now more aware of his lightheadedness, and he finds himself typing without even thinking about it first.

He tells Ten there’s something he’d been meaning to tell him, and the other sounds almost nervous when he replies. Johnny reassures him it’s nothing bad, and his fingers betray him by typing a set of sentences so cheesy he can feel Ten frowning through the screen.

He tells him he’s special to him, and that when they’re together, he feels like he can do anything. Johnny knows that, if he continues, he’ll end up telling him about the engagement, the wedding, and everything he’s been holding in for the past month.

Although maybe he shouldn’t stop himself. Maybe he should take advantage of the alcohol helping him not to overthink stuff and just ask Ten to be his best man. He knows he’ll say yes, he knows Ten won’t turn him down for anything. But his hands still shake as he thinks to writing the question.

 _“Chug! Chug! Chug!”_ a chorus of voices brings him back to reality, and suddenly there’s the music and the beating all around him again.

Johnny sees Ten typing, but his eyes dart towards the entrance where Mark and Hyuck used to be, only to find out they’re no longer there. Panic takes over him, and he’s ready to drag Mark out of the place if he even _thinks_ of chugging down a bottle.

He apologizes to Ten and asks him to talk tomorrow instead, when his head is clearer and his fatherly senses can rest. Ten agrees, a little reluctantly, but he lets him go with a keyboard smash an affectionate message.

Johnny says I love you, and Ten says it back. Then he locks his phone and heads towards the crowd.

 

-

 

_2:00 AM_

Johnny doesn’t know how, but he’s still awake.

There’s considerably less people inside the club, but there’s still a few dancing around and ordering more drinks.

Johnny hates to be a buzzkill, but he takes Jaehyun’s hand and drags him at a side of the club, where there’s a little white couch that sort of smells like alcohol, but is completely dry. He invites his fiancé to sit down, and offers him a water bottle he’d asked from a waiter.

“Drink a little water, love,” he encourages, opening the bottle for him and placing it in his hands.

Jaehyun laughs, but he obeys and takes a sip out of the bottle. Johnny’s surprised he can do it without spilling anything on himself, as he’d expect from someone this drunk.

“Hey,” the younger says once he’s done drinking, and hands the bottle back as he pulls at Johnny’s sleeve. “ _Guesswhat_?”

Johnny smiles a little. “What?”

Jaehyun raises his left hand to his face. He’s trying to show the ring on his finger, but he’s waving his hand so excitedly Johnny can barely see anything. “I’m gettin’ married next week.”

The older can’t help but laugh, and he raises an eyebrow at his fiancé. “Are you, really?”

“Yes!” Jaehyun jumps a little on his seat, clapping his hands. “And he’s the lo’ of my life. I’m so lucky.”

“Tell me about him,” Johnny teases, but still hands the water bottle again so the other can drink again.

After a quick sip, Jaehyun starts rambling. “He’s _justsso_ cute, y’know?” he slurs his words, but somehow Johnny finds it endearing. “And he’s sweet, and kind, and I like that he’s taller than me ‘cuz he makes me feel tiny,” he coos, smiling so widely his dimples show. “Also he kisses my forehead. And calls me peach. And his lips— _my God_ … I could kiss them all day.”

Johnny bites back a smile. “You should probably do it, then!”

Jaehyun raises his eyebrows. “I like how you think,” he nudges the other. “But the thing I love the most is,” he takes a deep breath, as if conveying all his feelings into this one phrase. “His hands… They can _perfectly_ cup my butt.”

The older can’t hold himself back, and starts laughing so hard he nearly falls from the couch. Jaehyun laughs with him, but he probably doesn’t even know why, he just follows.

Once Johnny regains his posture, he shakes his head. “You really are something else,” he smiles fondly, and leans in to press a kiss to his fiancé’s lips.

But the younger pushes him back, almost in horror. “No!” he whines, his hands coming up to cover his mouth dramatically. “I told you! I’m engaged! You can’t do that!”

It’s in that moment that Jungwoo comes up to them, skipping and giggling to himself. “Jaehyunie,” he calls, and gestures towards the dancefloor. “It’s our song!”

Jaehyun lets out an excited squeal and takes the hand Jungwoo offers him, standing up from the couch and giving Johnny one last dirty look, as if frowning down upon him for attempting to kiss him. Then he’s gone and running towards the center of the room.

Johnny scoffs to himself, defeated, but there’s only one thought running through his mind.

He’s so in love with Jaehyun.

 

* * *

 

 _February 16th, 2019_  
_12:10 AM_

 

Once he’s out of the broadcast studio, Johnny pulls out his phone and dials the number he knows from memory by now.

After just one ring, the person on the other side picks up.

“I am so in love with you,” Jaehyun’s voice greets him instantly.

Johnny can’t help the dumb smile that appears on his lips. “Did you listen to the broadcast?”

“No, I was busy watering my curtains,” the younger scoffs, and Johnny can picture him rolling his eyes in the most beautiful of ways. “Of course I listened, dummy. You outdid yourself tonight.”

“Well,” Johnny takes a deep breath. He digs his hand inside his pocket to fish out his car keys. “I had great inspiration for today’s theme, don’t you think?”

He can almost hear Jaehyun’s smile through the phone. “I love you so much. I’m so tired of waiting, why don’t we just secretly get married right now and flee the country?”

Johnny lets out a breathy laugh. “Where would we go?”

“Russia. Mexico. I don’t know. Anywhere with you would be the right choice.”

“You’re tempting me.”

“I’m booking the flight as we speak.”

The older snickers, finally getting inside the car, sitting behind the steering wheel, but never hanging up. “I just said what I feel. You’re truly everything I’ve ever dreamed of, and more.”

“You really want to make me cry at 12AM, don’t you?”

“Well…”

“Shut up!” Jaehyun says, embarrassed, but he doesn’t mean it. “… You’re also everything I’ve ever dreamed of. I can’t believe we have to wait 4 more days. It’s a torture.”

Johnny hums. “As long as I get to spend the rest of my life by your side, I can wait a little.”

There’s the sound of Jaehyun’s smile again. “I love how cheesy you are. I’ll never get tired of hearing you say the most embarrassing of things.”

“I’m glad, because there’s so much more where that came from.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

After that, a comfortable silence falls over them. There’s so many things that are left unsaid, so many emotions that cannot be put into words. But they can feel them, every single one of those things even through the phone.

Johnny takes a deep breath before breaking the silence. “I’m going to call Ten right now. I’m going to tell him.”

On the other side of the line, Jaehyun sighs. “Are you sure? You still have time, baby,” he says, his words full of affection. “You don’t need to rush it.”

“I know. But it’s time,” Johnny nods to himself, closing his eyes for a little. “I always gain courage after I talk to you, so I might as well take advantage of that.”

“Want extra encouragement?” Jaehyun chirps.

“Try me.”

With his best seductive voice, the younger purred. “If you tell Ten tonight, I can assure you that tomorrow you’ll be received at my home with a nice, hot and steamy… Bubble bath.”

“Oh, baby,” Johnny groans, smiling widely. “And a massage, too?”

“Definitely.”

“You’ve got me all worked up, now. Is this what you wanted?” he joked, and the sound of Jaehyun’s laughter makes his heart grow three times its original size. “Alright, I have to hang up. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay, peach?”

Jaehyun lets out a sleepy _uh-huh_. “Good luck, baby. If you need anything just give me a call, okay?”

“Sure thing. Sleep tight, and dream of me.”

“I always do.”

“I'm in love with you.”

“I'm in love with you, too.”

A slight beep cuts down the call, and Johnny inhales deeply and then exhales around three times before he convinces himself to dial the next number.

When he finally does, he lets the phone ring for as long as it can, before being told it cannot be reached. He tries again, just in case Ten was busy, but the result is the same, and his call is not picked up,

He sighs, pouting a little, but decides he can try a little later. After all, he needs to tell Ten sooner or later, he needs to ask him the thing he should have asked almost three months ago.

He sighs, and he turns on the car and finally makes his way back home.

He needs to ask.

And he sure hopes Ten says yes.


End file.
